Not applicable to this application.
Not applicable to this application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to oxygen masks and more specifically it relates to an oxygen mask filter system for preventing the transmission of a disease from a patient to medical personnel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oxygen masks have been in use for years. A conventional oxygen mask is comprised of a face mask that seals about the patient""s mouth and nose, a check valve fluidly connected to the face mask, an oxygen bag fluidly connected to the check valve, and a pressurized oxygen tank fluidly connected to the oxygen bag as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The face mask typically includes one or more vents within the side portions thereof wherein a disk member is loosely attached to a post member for allowing gases from within the face mask to be freely forced out of while preventing external gases from entering the interior of the face mask (i.e. similar to a check valve structure). The main problem with conventional oxygen masks is that they allow infectious diseases and organisms from the patient to be expelled from the face mask through the vents when the patient exhales.
Examples of patented devices which may be related to the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,094 to Tayebi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,464 to Yo; U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,987 to Swann; U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,761 to Yuschak et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,693 to Rekow et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,580 to Swann; U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,952 to Swann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,616 to Smith et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,844 to Pouchot et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,327 to Russell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,058 to Brostrom et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,771 to Walther.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for preventing the transmission of a disease from a patient to medical personnel. Conventional oxygen masks do not protect medical personal from infectious diseases and organisms expelled from a patient.
In these respects, the oxygen mask filter system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing the transmission of a disease from a patient to medical personnel.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of oxygen masks now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new oxygen mask filter system construction wherein the same can be utilized for preventing the transmission of a disease from a patient to medical personnel.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new oxygen mask filter system that has many of the advantages of the oxygen masks mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new oxygen mask filter system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art oxygen masks, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a face mask having an interior surface and an exterior surface, a plurality of vent apertures, a disk member movably attached to the exterior surface of the face mask about the vent apertures, and a filter member attached to the interior surface of the face mask for filtering gases prior to expulsion from the interior of the face mask to the exterior through the vent apertures.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an oxygen mask filter system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
A second object is to provide an oxygen mask filter system for preventing the transmission of a disease from a patient to medical personnel.
Another object is to provide an oxygen mask filter system that filters gases from the interior of the face mask prior to being expelled.
An additional object is to provide an oxygen mask filter system that allows for the filters to be conveniently removed or changed.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.